1. Field of the invention:
The present invention relates to a chip transporting conveyor having an endless carrier movable in a circulatory path for transporting chips discharged from various machine tools or scraps such as punched-out pieces discharged from presses.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
There is known a belt conveyor mounted on a floor and having an endless conveyor belt composed of a multiplicity of hinged plates connected together. Chips discharged from a machine tool are allowed, together with the coolant, to fall on the belt. Filamentary and relatively large chips as they drop on the conveyor belt tend to remain thereon without being washed away by the coolant and be successively transported by the conveyor belt as it operates in circulatory motion. However, small chips such as powdery cast masses are caused by the coolant to flow through gaps between a conveyor frame and the conveyor belt and then remain on the bottom of the conveyor frame or are deposited in a coolant tank. Therefore, the belt conveyor of the type described has a poor efficiency of transportation of powdery chips, and also suffers from the drawbacks in that the remaining chips interfere with the circulatory motion of the conveyor belt and it is tedious and time-consuming to clean the interior of the coolant tank.